Deebo Samuel is a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles who has been on the team since he was drafted in 2018. He recently became only the third player in NFL history to catch 100 touchdown passes with his 101st coming against New England Patriots.
Deebo Samuel is absolutely moving towards becoming one of the best receivers in the NFL according to Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. Rice knows all about being a great pass catcher and he says that Samuel has what it takes to be on the same level as him.
Adams, Davante. Stefon Diggs is a football player. Hopkins, DeAndre. Tyreek Hill is a basketball player from the United States. When it comes to the greatest wide receivers in the NFL, these are the names you’ll hear the most. However, a new pass-catcher is attempting to join the list through the first four games of the 2021 season, and at least one Hall of Fame receiver believes we should start talking about him as such. It’s Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers.
So far in 2021, Deebo Samuel has torn up secondaries.
Deebo Samuel played four seasons for the University of South Carolina, his alma mater. The San Francisco 49ers selected the 6-foot pass-catcher with the No. 36 overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft because of his 148 receptions, 2,076 yards, and 16 touchdowns.
Samuel exploded into the NFL spotlight as a big-play danger in his first season. He grabbed 57 passes for 802 yards and three touchdowns, three of which came via the air and three more on the ground. Injuries hindered his second season, but he still scored a receiving and running touchdown despite playing just 28% of his team’s plays.
Samuel is off to an incredible start in 2021.
Through four games, the former Gamecock leads the league with 490 receiving yards, 28 catches, four touchdowns, and the second-longest touchdown grab of the season at 79 yards.
Only Samuel and Tyreek Hill have had multiple games of 150 or more receiving yards this season. The 49ers pass-catcher had 189 yards in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions and 156 yards in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks in a divisional matchup.
Anyone paying attention can tell that Deebo Samuel is now one of the greatest wide receivers in the NFL, and at least one Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver is taking notice.
Samuel, according to Michael Irving, is on his way to being one of the greatest receivers in the NFL.
Michael Irvin, a Hall of Fame wide receiver turned analyst for the Dallas Cowboys, joined the sports talk radio program Damon, Ratto & Kolsky on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco on Monday.
“Michael, would you be comfortable placing Deebo Samuel on that top tier of wide receiver skill right now?” presenter Damon Bruce questioned Irvin regarding Samuel when analyzing the Niners’ current condition.
Irvin excitedly responded:
In any case, I was going to bring it up to you. He’s on his way to achieving his goal. With the manner he’s playing, he’s saying, ‘Start involving me in these discussions.’ And wow, he grabbed the ball out of the air on a slant route the other day. I can’t tell you how much bravery it takes to go in and grab it with your hands while still trying to go up the field…. He’s a fantastic young player.
Deebo Samuel on Michael Irvin
When Irvin was playing, he stated that he would catch such kinds of slant routes against his body to better and more safely take the blow if a defender attempted to lay him down.
When one of the greatest receivers of the past 30 years praises Samuel, it indicates that more people should be paying attention to what he does in 2021.
In a pivotal Week 5 NFC West game, the San Francisco 49ers face the Arizona Cardinals.
Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images | Deebo Samuel .
Deebo Samuel has been excellent for the San Francisco 49ers this season, but they have only managed a 2-2 record so far. The club has lost its past two games against the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks, two of the top teams in the NFC.
In Week 5, Samuel and the Niners face the Herculean challenge of dethroning the Arizona Cardinals, the NFL’s only undefeated club and division leader.
The fact that this will most likely be rookie Trey Lance’s first NFL start adds to the challenge for the Bay Area side. With a right calf issue that kept him out of the Seahawks game last Saturday, incumbent starter Jimmy Garoppolo is doubtful for Sunday.
The Cardinals’ defense has yet to allow a receiver to get 100 yards this season, so Samuel will have his work cut out for him. The NFL’s top pass-catcher, on the other hand, will have to show up and perform like a superstar on Sunday afternoon if the 49ers are to win.
It will be a big test for Samuel, but if he passes, it will become clear that Deebo Samuel must be among the first names cited when discussing the greatest wide receiver in the NFL.
Pro Football Reference provided all stats.
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